Representative Democratic Council
Encyclopedia
The Representative Democratic Council was a group that emerged in Korea after World War II
. It was led by Syngman Rhee
, later to be the first leader of South Korea after the failure of unification. The group was against proposals made between the Americans and the Soviets to set up a Commission which would allow the country to be unified by elections only after a period of self-governance under the international trusteeship.
Rhee opposed the measures because both he and Kim Il Sung wanted to unify Korea which in some ways was an artificial division brought about by Cold War
tensions between the United States
and the Soviet Union. The fact that Korea had only just emerged from a period of being controlled by Imperial Japan
also meant that nationalists such as Rhee were uneasy about another period of foreign involvement in Korea.
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. It was led by Syngman Rhee
Syngman Rhee
Syngman Rhee or Yi Seungman was the first president of South Korea. His presidency, from August 1948 to April 1960, remains controversial, affected by Cold War tensions on the Korean peninsula and elsewhere. Rhee was regarded as an anti-Communist and a strongman, and he led South Korea through the...
, later to be the first leader of South Korea after the failure of unification. The group was against proposals made between the Americans and the Soviets to set up a Commission which would allow the country to be unified by elections only after a period of self-governance under the international trusteeship.
Rhee opposed the measures because both he and Kim Il Sung wanted to unify Korea which in some ways was an artificial division brought about by Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
tensions between the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the Soviet Union. The fact that Korea had only just emerged from a period of being controlled by Imperial Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
also meant that nationalists such as Rhee were uneasy about another period of foreign involvement in Korea.